Can I get FTA trough my PC only & how

[knoxsville]

Hi, I am a new to this stuff and looking for a few answers.
First , can I get FTA through my pc alone without buying and external reciever?

If so what kind of card do I need to get?

What I was tryiing to do was just get regular cable through my PC, but I read a forum somewhere that It was possible to get full FTA through my pc and then stream it to my HDTV. So instead of just buying a regular TV tuner card I would perfer to go with a card than will enable me to get FTA iin the future.

I do have a direct tv dish on the house w/ two lnb's.

Right now I just need to know if this is possible with installing a tuner card in my PC, then will move on froom there.

Any input would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks

 

[starman345]

You can get fta with a dvb-s or dvb-s2 card in your computer, but you will need a bigger dish, at least 30".

 

[updatelee]

and even bigger for dvb-s2, 36" to 39" I bet is min for s2

you wont get any feeds really with that setup though as you wont be able to find them. the only dvb card for the pc that supports blindscan is the old skystar v2.3 (not v2.6). most people use a blindscan receiver to find the majority of the feeds then input them to their pc. if your only interested in allways on programming then you wont need this feature. TheList will supply you with that info.

there are some good htpc software out there, like mytheatre.

 

[brentb636]

You'll find it difficult to aim your dish with a PC card solution. You should consider getting a used Merc II or Coolsat 5000 just for aiming, if you don't want the box to be in general use.